The Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., welcomed its inaugural class of 50 students July 29.
Announced in October 2020, the medical school was established in partnership with Nashville-based HCA Healthcare, which will serve as one of the school's major clinical affiliates. Thomas Frist, Jr., MD, co-founded HCA with his father, Thomas Frist Sr., MD, and entrepreneur Jack Massey in 1968. Dr. Frist Jr. is a major shareholder of the company, which has seen its stock price hit new highs in 2024.
"The Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont University is dedicated to cultivating diverse physician leaders of character who embrace a whole-person approach to healing in a community of service-learning, inspired by the love and grace of Christ," the school's mission reads. Belmont University is a private Christian university with a total enrollment of roughly 9,000.
The allopathic medical school received 1,368 applications for its inaugural year, with the Class of 2028 holding a median MCAT score of 509 and a median GPA of 3.64. Of the 50 students, four are recipients of rural community scholarships, indicating their intent to practice in rural areas after graduation.
Anderson Spickard, III, MD, leads the students as dean of the Thomas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine. In 2021, Belmont recruited him from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he established its Office of Education Design and Informatics, to serve as associate dean for spiritual growth and development of the new medical school. In 2022, Dr. Spickard was appointed to serve as interim dean of the school and was named dean a year later.
The Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine is the fifth allopathic medical school in Tennessee and expects its class size to grow incrementally each year.